CJ 


Library 

OF  THE 

University  of  North.  Carolina 

This  book  was  presented  by 


01».  X  d«A,*vel( 


'Q>32iM_  ft»t>vh 


REPORT 


FROM 


THE    PUBLIC    TREASURER. 


IN  ANSWBR  TO 


A  RESOLUTION  OP  THE  LEGISLATURE, 


ftALEIGH: 
W.  E,  GALES,  PRINTER  TO  THE  LEGISLATURE, 

1846, 


Treasury  Office  of  North  Carolina,  j 
Raleigh,  14th  Dec.  1846.      { 

lb  the  honorable,  the  General 

Assembly  of  North  Carolina  : 

|  The  House  of  Commons  having  passed  the  following 
Resolution,  "  Whereas,  the  State  of  North  Carolina  has 
become  liable,  by  endorsements,  for  the  Raleigh  and  Gas- 
ton Rail  Road  Company  for  the  amount  stated  in  the  Re- 
port of  the  Public  Treasurer,  and  the  present  Legislature 
being  determined,  so  far  as  depends  on  their  action,  to 
preserve  the  faith  and  credit  of  the  State,  and  to  enable 
her  to  meet  promptly  all  her  liabilities.  Therefore,  Re- 
solved, that  the  Public  Treasurer  be  called  on  to  submit 
to  this  Legislature  his  views  in  regard  to  a  scheme  of 
Finance,  whereby  a  Fund  can  be  created  to  meet  the 
wants  of  the  Treasury  arising  from  the  endorsements 
aforesaid;"  the  Public  Treasurer  in  obedience  thereto,  has 
the  honor  to  submit  the  following  Report. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/reportfrompublicOOnort 


REPORT. 


STATE  LIABILITIES. 

The  State  became  responsible  for  $500,000  as  a  surety 
of  the  Raleigh  and  Gaston  Rail  Road  Company,  bearing 
interest  at  the  rate  of  6  per  cent,  per  year,  payable  half 
yearly. 

The  principal  of  the  Debt  is  redeemable  at  the  pleas- 
ure of  the  State  after  1st  January,  1860.  (Act  of  1838.) 
Of  this  Scrip,  individuals  hold  at  this  time,  $360,000 

The  Literary  Board  holds  at  this  time.  140,000 


Whole  Loan,  $500,000 

The  Interest  has  been  paid  to  July,  1846. 

The  State  afterwards  became  responsible  in  like  man- 
ner for  the  same  company,  for  the  sum  of  $300,000,  bear- 
ing the  same  rate  of  interest.    The  principal  of  the  debt 


is  redeemable  by  annual  instalments  of  530,000,  begin- 
ginning  in  January  1815.     (Acts  of  1840.) 

0f  this  Scrip,  the  Literary  Board  holds  823,300 

Individuals  now  hold  203,200 


$226,500 


The  instalments  duo  in  January 
1845  and  January  184b',  having 
been  paid  off,  50,000 

There  remains  on  hand,  not  used 
by  the  Company,  of  the  .$300,000 
loan,  13,500 


$73,500 


So  any  "  scheme  of  Finahec,"  which  will  "  preserve 
the  faith  and  credit  of  the  State,  and  enable  her  to  meet 
promptly  all  her  liabilities,"  must  provide  revenues  to 
pay  the  following  sums  and  the  interest  on  them,  to-wit: 

To  individuals,  a  principal  debt  of  $503,200 

To  Literary  Fund,  do.         of  163,300 

Tke  debt  to  individuals  falling  due  at  different  periods 
and  by  unequal  instalments,  and  that  to  the  Literary 
Eoard  all  at  one  time,  January  1860,  except  823,300. 


WAYS  AND  MEANS. 

After  the  annual  Report  from  this  Department,  it  is 
hardly  necessary  to  remark,  that  the  Revenues  of  the 
State  Treasury  are  not  sufficient  to  meet  these  demands 
wpon  it-  But  the  difficulty  may  be  obviated  in  several 
ways,  without  hazarding  the  public  faith. 

First. 

Let  the  President  and  Directors  of  the  Literary  Fund 
call  in  their  outstanding  loans,  (as  recommended  in  ths 


Governor's  Message.)  arid  invest  the  amount  in  the  scrip 
now  held  by  individuals,  (of  the  $500,000  loan,}  so  as  to 
purchase  at  least  $63,200,  as  on  the  1st  January  1847, 
and  hold  the  same  as  a  part  of  tile  invested  Funds  of 
that  Board. 

Let  the  Public  Treasurer  sell  and  dispose  of  Two  thou- 
sand Shares  of  the  Stocks  owned  in  the  Bank  of  the  State. 
and  in  the  Bank  of  Cape  Fear,  viz  ;  1,000  Shares  in  each 
Bank  and  apply  the  proceeds  in  satisfaction  of  so  much 
of  the  $300,000  loan  as  remains  unpaid  ;  crediting  the 
Literary  Board  with  .$200,000  principal,  on  account  of 
said  Stock  at  the  State  Treasury. 

Let  the  Raleigh  and  Gaston  Kail  Road  be  conveyed  to 
the  President  and  Directors  of  the  Literary  Fund  forth- 
with, with  power  to  control  and  manage  the  same,  and 
to  take  the  profits  until  it  can  be  otherwise  disposed  of; 
and  let  said  Board  be  directed  to- sell  the  said  Road  upon 
such  terms  as  they  shall  deem  best  for  the  interest  of  the 
Fund,  with  a  guaranty  that  their  bargain  shall  be  ap- 
proved, whether  the  purchaser  be  an  individual  or  an  in- 
corporated company,  &c.  And  upon  the  conveyance  of 
said  Road  to  the  said  President  and  Directors,  let  them 
be  charged  by  the  State  Treasury  with  $303,000  the 
price  bid  for  said  Road. 

The  State  by  the  same  Act  might  pledge  herself  to 
make  good  to  the  said  Fund,  in  the  end  that  any  loss  may 
occur  in  the  re-sale  of  said  Rail  Road,  and  to  preserve  and 
keep  up  the  income  of  said  Fund  to  6  per  cent,  per  an- 
num by  future  appropriations  thereto,  should  they  become 
necessary. 

These  changes  being  made  in  the  public  property,  (and 
with  the  means  on  hand  they  may  be  accomplished  by 
the  operation  of  simple  resolutions  requiring  the  State 
officers  and  Agents  to  make  them.)  the  debt  owing  to  in- 
dividuals will  be  reduced  from  8563,200  due  By  instal- 
ments to  $300,000  payable  after  1st  January.  I860.  And 
the  yearly  interest  payable  to  individuals  will  be  reduced 
from  $33,822  to  $18,000. 


8 
A DDITION AL  REVENUES. 

To  provide  for  the  interest  on  the  Public  Debt,  and  to 
commence  a  system  for  accumulating  a  fund  to  sink  the 
principal  for  both,  or  either,  it  will  be  necessary  to  en- 
large the  Revenues  of  the  State  Treasury.  This  may 
be  done  also.,  without  any  fundamental  changes  of  the 
existing  system  of  taxation  in  North  Carolina,  and  with- 
out oppressing  the  people  by  unreasonable  exactions. 
The  Public  Treasurer,  in  obedience  to  the  mandate  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  respectfully  suggests,  therefore. 
that  the  following  taxes  might  be  levied  and  paid  into 
the  State  Treasury,  as  the  necessary  part  of  any  "  scheme 
of  Finance"  to  fee  devised  for  meeting  the  demands 
upon   it  : 

1st.  Let  the  Vacant  lands  in  the  State,  here- 
toforc  excluded  from  entry,  be  made  lia-* 
ble  to  sale  by  entry,  at  sueh  prices  as 
may  be  reasonable,  and  that  will  proba- 
bly increase  the  receipts  for  entries  per 
year,  at  least  85,000 

2d.  Let  the  Tavern  Tax,  and  Tax  on  Retail- 
ers, and  Tax  on  Auctions,  with  all  monies 
hereafter  paid  into  the  Treasury  by  vir- 
tue of  the  present  Revenue  laws  for 
Land  Entries,  be  attd  remain  therein  as; 
a  part  of  the  State  Treasury,  until  the 
year  I8G0,  any  law  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding. They  amount,  per  yearr 
to  about  22.0CC 

3<J.  Let  the  Tax  now  collected  upon  Tavern 
Licences,  and  Licences  to  retail  Spirit- 
uous Liquors,  be  increased  from  $4  to  $5. 
viz.  by  adding  one  dollar  to  the  present 
tax,  estimated  yearly  at  750i 

4th.  Let  the  Taxes  now  collectable  upon  the 
licences  of  Attorneys  at  Law,  be  required 


to  be  paid  into  the  State  Treasury, 
through  the  agency  of  the  Clerk  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  estimated  yearly  at  .       500 

5th.  Let  there  be  a  State  tax  imposed  upon 
the  original  writ  or  leading  process  in 
each  suit  in  any  Court  of  Record,  and 
upon  each  indictment  found  by  the  Grand 
Jury,  say  one  dollar,  provided  that  where 
there  are  more  than  two  defendants 
'charged  in  the  same  indictment,  each 
one  shall  pay  the  full  tax,  estimated  at  1,250 


If  not  over-estimated,  they  would   increase 

the  revenues  of  the  Treasury  about  22,500 

Which,  being  added  to  the  existing  surplus  of         18,500 

Will  make  $41,000 

a  year. 

These  may  be  increased  by  Taxes  imposed 
upon  various  articles  of  property  of  luxu- 
ry, already  under  consideration  by  the 
General  Assembly,  should  it  be  consider- 
ed wise  and  proper  to  do  so. 

This  brings  us  to  the  important  practical  inquiry, 
whether  such  a  surplus  will  enable  the  State  to  redeem 
her  faith,  and  preserve  her  credit  ?  With  the  arrange- 
ments proposed,  the  Public  Treasurer  reports,  that  in  his 
opinion  there  is  no  reasonable  ground  to  doubt  it. 

Thus  after  paying  the  interest,  $18,000  upon  the  debt  to 
individuals,  there  would  remain  in  the  Treasury  nearly 
or  quite  $22,000,  which  would  be  more  than  sufficient  to 
pay  the  interest  accruing  upon  the  debt  to  the  Literary- 
Fund  Indeed,  it  will  pay  the  interest  and  leave  a  con- 
siderable residue  for  sinking  the  principal  of  the  public 
debt,  aided  as  it  will  be  by  the  income  of  the  Rail  Road 
before  it  is  sold  and  the  purchase  money  afterwards, 


10 

Second. 

Another  scheme  fcr  meeting  the  said  demands  might 
be  considered  more  wisp,  though  it  is  raiher  the  same 
scheme  with  a  single  modification  ;  and  that  is,  instead 
of  gelling  2  000  Shares  of  Bank  Stock  to  pay  §200,000  of 
the  debt,  let  the  State  sell  3,000  Shares  of  Bank  Stock 
and  pay  off  S3CO.01O  of  the  debt,  so  as  to  leave  only 
§200,00 J  of  thts  del  t  in  the  hands  of  individuals  and  re- 
duce the  annual  interest  to  be  paid  to  them  from  SI 8,000 
to  812.000.  Very  prudent  men  who  have  been  consulted, 
differ  in  their  opinions  on  this  point,  and  the  Public  Trea- 
surer submits  it  to  the  General  Assembly  to  decide  be- 
tween the  two  schemes  without  comment. 

From  these  statements  it  must  be  obvious  to  the  plain- 
est mind,  that  the  "  scheme  of  Finance"  here  proposed,  if 
adopted,  will  preserve  the  credit  of  the  State  and  effec- 
tually protect  the  public  honor.  If  the  revenue  to  be 
derived  from  the  taxes  recommended  should  fall  below  the 
estimates  one  half,  still  the  interest  of  the  public  debt 
will  be  in  hand  to  pay  individual  creditors  and  the  honor 
and  credit  of  North  Carolina  will  be  preserved. 

OBJECTIONS. 

The  objections  which  have  been'made  against  it,  have 
been  candidly  examined  so  far  as  the  Public  Treasurer 
has  had  it  in  his  power  to  consider  them. 

First.  It  is  said  that  this  scheme  transfers  the  Rail 
Road  to  the  Literary  Fund  at  more  than  it  is  worth. 

The  answer  is,  that  the  Board  has  power  to  sell  the 
Road,  and  the  State,  by  this  "  scheme  of  Finance," 
pledges  herself  beforehand  to  make  good  any  loss  to  the 
School  Fund.  And  admitting  the  fact  of  a  loss  being 
probable,  is  it  not  better  to  tax  the  people  to  pay  a  loss 
after  it  shall  have  been  ascertained,  than  to  burthen 
them  beforehand,  when  it  may  turn  out  in  the  end  that 
there  will  be  no  losses  to  pay  I     Cannot  the  State's  own 


II 

Board  trust  the  State?  Cannot  North  Carolina  trust 
herself?  If  not,  how  is  her  credit  to  be  preserved  in 
the  world  ? 

It  is  believed  by  many  persons,  that  the  Rail  Road 
will  sell  for  $363,000.  If  so.  there  can  be  no  loss  to  the 
Literary  Fund.  Should  it  sell  for  no  more  than  $203,200, 
there  can  be  no  loss  to  that  Fund,  for  it  will  be  noted 
that  the  foregoing  scheme  requires  no  larger  sum  than 
that  to  be  advanced  by  the  School  Fund.  If  it  should 
sell  for  no  more  than  $200,000,  the  loss  would  be  com- 
paratively very  small  and  easy  to  provide  for,  viz : 
$63,200,  to  say  nothing  of  what  may  be  recovered  on 
the  Indemnity  Bonds  for  $500,000.  The  whole  differ- 
ence would  hardly  constitute,  in  any  event,  an  available 
excuse  for  premature  taxes. 

So  this  objection  disappears. 

Second.  The  next  objection  is,  that  the  income  of 
the  Literary  Fund  ought  not  to  be  invaded.  The  Gen- 
eral Assembly  must  perceive,  that  the  income  of  the 
Literary  Board  from  their  invested  Fund  is  not  to  be  de- 
creased, nor  its  operations  impeded,  even  for  a  year. 

The  State  holds  more  than  a  million  of  dollars  in 
Stocks  of  the  Banks  whose  charters  expire  in  1860,  and 
the  income  of  that  stock  has  been  dedicated  to  Common 
Schools,"  subject  at  all  times  to  the  control  of  the  Gene- 
ral Assembly  ;"  but  the  principal  is  not  to  be  expended, 
and  it  will  have  to  be  re-invested  at  the  expiration  of 
the  Bank  charters.  The  State  at  the  same  time  owes  a 
debt,  the  principal  of  which  falls  due  in  part  before 
1S60  ;  and  now  the  question  is,  whether  the  people 
should  be  taxed  to  pay  up  the  latter,  when  a  small  part 
of  the  former  may  be  readily  substituted  for  it  in  relief 
of  the  tax  payers,  and  leave  nothing  to  be  levied  by 
taxation  besides  the  interest  Even  that  charge  may 
soon  cease  altogether,  and  will  certainly  be  diminished 
in  a  few  years,  viz.  after  the  proceeds  of  the  re-sale  of 


is 

the  Road,  and  the  recoveries  effected  upon  the  bonds  of 
Indemnity,  can  be  made  available  as  cash  or  stock. 

To  refuse  to  use  the  means  on  hand,  but  to  tax  the 
people  immediately  to  pay  off  the  principal  of  the  public 
debt — upon  such  a  theory  in  legislation  as  that  a  public 
stock  is  too  sacred  for  public  use — would  seem  to  be  both 
unwise  and  oppressive,  as  will  be  more  clearly  demon- 
strated when  you  come  to  see  hereafter,  by  actual  com- 
putation, what  amount  of  taxation  would  be  requisite. 

The  Public  Treasurer  would  by  no  means  inculcate 
the  idea  that  the  income  of  the  Literary  Board,  from 
their  invested  Funds,  should  be  materially  lessened  in 
preference  to  a  resort  to  moderate  taxation.  And  al- 
though it  has  been  objected  to  this  scheme,  that  such 
will  be  its  effect,  he  is  confident  that  the  fact  is  not  so  ; 
and  at  the  peril  of  being  tedious,  he  desires  to  vindicate 
the  scheme  by  a  plain  demonstration,  as  follows  : 

This  scheme  impairs  in  no  respect  the  security  of  the 
Board  for  the  Bonds  already  held  by  it,  viz  :  §163,300. 

The  interest  upon  the  Bank  Stock  of  §200,000  would 
be  §12,000  per  year,  and  to  pay  this  the  Company  will 
have  all  the  income  of  the  Rail  Road  (which  no  one  esti- 
mates lower,)  until  the  Road  shall  be  sold,  and  the  whole 
price  after  it  shall  be  sold.  The  only  additional  part  of 
the  capital  of  said  fund  interfered  with,  will  be  the 
§63.200  to  be  invested  in  the  purchase  of  the  State  scrip, 
payable  in  18G0.  The  interest  on  this  will  be  $3,S22, 
and  to  pay  that  amount  this  scheme  presents  a  surplus 
in  the  Treasury  abundantly  sufiici  nt — superadds  to  it  a 
direct  pledge  of  public  faith,  and  to  make  assurance 
doubly  sure,  it  not  only  confers  upon  the  Board  the  au- 
thority to  sell  the  Rail  Road  and  to  take  the  purchase 
money  into  their  hands,  but  it  reserves  the  Bonds  of  in- 
dividuals and  stockholders  for  8500,000,  to  satisfy  any 
deficiency. 

It  is   a  capital  reason  in  favor  of  this  scheme,  that 


18 

whilst  it  provides  at  once  and  permanently  for  the  pre- 
servation of  the  public  credit,  it  transfers  the  Rail  Road 
to  be  sold  by  agents  who  can  take  care  of  the  public  in- 
terests and  deal  upon  equal  terms' with  those  who  mny 
be  inclined  to  purchase  it,  and  that  by  these  means  the 
whole  amount  of  the  public  loss,  (if  any,)  will  be  as- 
certained before  the  meeting  of  another  Assembly,  who 
may  then  provide  the  ways  and  means  of  repairing  it, 
with  no  false  conjectures  to  mislead  them. 

The  Public  Treasurer  begs  leave  to  remark,  that  he 
has  endeavored  to  profit  by  the  recommendations  in  the 
Governor's  Message,  and  considering  them  valuable  and 
approved  principles  to  be  engrafted  into  any  scheme  for 
preserving  the  public  credit,  he  has  freely  introduced 
most  of  his  suggestions  into  this  report  without  any 
express  acknowledgement.  Where  he  has  omitted  any 
one  of  them,  it  has  not  been  done  for  the  purpose  of 
withdrawing  it  from  the  consideration  of  the  General 
Assembly.  But  it  is  nevertheless  proper  to  state,  that  if 
the  $50,000  debt  owing  by  the  Wilmington  and  Raleigh 
Rail  Road  Company  were  transferred  to  the  Literary 
Board,  there  would  be  a  necessity  for  providing  the 
same  amount  to  pay  off  a  Bond  for  $50,000  due  by  the 
Treasury  to  the  Bank  of  Cape  Fear.  For  that  reason, 
no  notice  has  been  taken  of  either  of  said  debts  in  this 
scheme. 

The  idea  has  been  a  good  deal  encouraged,  that  the 
debt  incurred  by  the  State  for  the  Raleigh  and  Gaston 
Rail  Road,  had  better  be  paid  off  by  a  sinking  fund  to 
be  levied  by  a  public  tax  at  once  ;  and  therefore,  the  at- 
tention of  the  Public  Treasurer  has  been  carefully  di- 
rected to  that  point. 

By  the  scheme  submitted,  the  Rail  Road  will  be,  in 
substance  and  effect,  used  at  its  full  value  as  a  sinking 
fund,  and  it  will  be  an  easy  task  to  devise  a  system  for 
sinking  the  principal  of  the  $200,000  or  $300,000  which 
will  still  remain  due  to  individuals.  Would  it  not  be 
safer  and  better,  however,   to   defer  that  until  the  Rail 


u 

Road  shall  have  been  actually  s<jld  and  disposed  of,  and 
the  suits  upon  the  Indemnity  Bonds  determined  by  the 
Courts?  Should  it  be  desirable,  the  Public  Treasurer 
will  be  ready  to  report  upon  that  subject  when  he  is  re- 
quired by  the  General  Assembly,  either  now  or  at  the 
next  Session.  At  present,  he  will  barely  submit  certain 
results,  to  which  accurate  calculations  have  brought 
him  in  his  efforts  to  carry  into  practice  this  idea  of  im- 
posing an  immediate  tax  to  discharge  the  whole  public 
debt,  by  the  operation  of  a  sinking  fund,  without  using 
any  part  of  the  Bank  Stocks  or  other  funds  of  the  State 
on  hand. 

The  first  difficulty  that  occurred  was  this — That 
$226,500  of  the  debt  falls  due  by  instalments,  annually, 
so  to  that  part  of  the  debt,  the  principles  of  a  sinking 
fund  are  wholly  inapplicable.  It  can  be  removed  in  no 
other  way  but  by  paying  it  with  the  Bank  Stocks  as  here 
proposed ;  or  else  by  negotiating  a  new  loan  upon  an  ex- 
tended credit  to  January  1860  or  later.  It  might  not  be 
easy  to  accomplish  this  new  loan  at  par,  now  that  the 
United  States  are  likely  to  be  in  market  as  borrowers  for 
large  amounts.  But  that  obstacle  out  of  the  way  and 
there  must  be  a  revenue  levied  by  taxation,  sufficient  to 
pay  the  yearly  interest  upon  the  whole  debt  of  8727,000, 
viz  :  $43,620,  and  a  yearly  sinking  fund  of  about  838,500, 
in  order  to  extinguish  this  debt  in  January  1SG0.  An  in- 
creased taxation  this  of  more  than  double  the  present 
rates !  An  increased  annual  tax  of  $82,000  and  up- 
wards !  ! 

In  the  opinion  of  this  Department,  it  would  be  unwise 
to  impose  it. 

If  this  system  of  finance  (by  immediate  taxation  to 
raise  a  sinking  fund)  were  resorted  to  for  the  residue  of 
the  debt  after  deducting  that  part  which  already  belongs 
to  the  Literary  Fund,  viz  :  for  $563,200  only,  it  would 
take  an  annual  revenue  of  $33,790  to  pay  the  interest 
and  about  $30,000  to  contribute  to  a  sinking  fund  in  or- 
tier  to  extinguish  it   on  1st  January  1860.     A    less  sum 


If 

would  not  do  it.  An  increased  tax  this  of  nearly 
$64,000  which  there  is  no  absolute  necessity  to  impose 
upon  the  people. 

The  Public  Treasurer  cannot  suppose  that  such  a 
scheme  would  be  approved  by  the  General  Assembly,  and 
lie  rather  thinks  that  its  advocates  have  not  examined 
the  subject  fully,  nor  tested  their  theory  by  a  calculation 
of  the  taxes  it  would  impose  upon  their  consituents. 

In  connexion  with  this  report,  it  seems  not  inappro- 
priate to  remark,  that  the  want  of  statistical  knowledge 
has  been  sorely  felt  at  this  Department ;  and  is  it  not 
remarkable,  that  no  law  of  the  State  has  ever  been  pass- 
ed for  compiling  and  preserving  in  any  public  office,  that 
sort  of  authentic  information  in  respect  to  the  produc- 
tions, trade,  agriculture,  mechanic  arts,  and  manufac- 
tures of  North  Carolina,  which  is  so  useful  in  examina- 
tions of  the  Revenue  system,  and  of  the  finances  and 
resources  of  the  State  ? 

By  a  diligent  use  of  the  very  imperfect  lights  to  be 
obtained  on  so  short  a  notice,  the  Public  Treasurer  has 
been  able  to  devise  no  efficient  scheme  that  will  be  likely 
to  encounter  less  hostility,  or  that  is  liable  to  fewer  ob- 
jections, than  that  which  he  has  now  submitted.  Human 
wisdom,  however,  could  hardly  invent  a  system  on  such 
a  subject,  that  would  be  effectual  and  yet  be  acceptable 
to  every  body  in  all  its  parts.  It  seems  to  be  admitted, 
that  the  duty  of  putting  in  operation  some  system  of  fi- 
nance to  preserve  the  credit  of  the  State,  has  devolved 
upon  this  Assembly,  and  that  it  cannot  be  refused  with 
honor  nor  deferred  with  safety ;  and  therefore  it  might 
be  considered  a  sufficient  reason  in  favor  of  the  scheme 
here  offered,  that  it  effectually  saves  the  public  credit 
and  disposes  of  the  Rail  Road,  whilst  it  does  not  prevent 
a  future  Assembly  from  repairing  any  defects  in  present 
legislation  upon  this  subject.  Should  it  be  the  will  of 
the  people  to  be  taxed  heavier,  in  order  to  pay  back  the 
Bank  Stock  to  the  Literary  Fund  in  preference  to  pay- 
ing the  interest  only,  their  representatives  will  be  able 


16 

to  obey  their  wishes,  and  there  is  nothing  in  this  scheme 
to  hinder  or  embarrass  them  in  doing  so,  at  a  future 
session. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 


CHARLES  L.  HINTON, 
Pub.  Treas. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00042071989 


FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


